Legendary coach chooses Carlos Alcaraz for the 2024 US Open

08/15/2024 11:00 AM

In today’s evening session, fans will be able to see Carlos Alcaraz make his debut at the Cincinnati Masters 1000. Former world number 1 will face French veteran Gael Monfils for a spot in the round of 16 in Ohio, where he lost to Novak Djokovic last year in the final despite having one match point to his name.

The young Spaniard has played a lot in the last two months and won 20 of his last 22 matches. Carlitos won the French Open and Wimbledon Championships, while the only two losses came against Jack Draper at the Queen’s Club and against Novak Djokovic in the final of the Paris Olympics.

The 21-year-old from Murcia - who missed the Montreal Masters 1000 last week - will use the Cincinnati tournament as a test before the US Open 2024, which will take place in New York at the end of August. The four-time Grand Slam champion is the main favourite at Flushing Meadows - where he won his first Major in 2022 - but will have to be very careful about Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.

If he wins the US Open, Carlitos would also become the youngest ever tennis player to win five Grand Slam titles. These numbers show that Alcaraz has the talent to become one of the best ever. According to the bookmakers, Carlos Alcaraz is the player who has the best chance of winning the 2024 US Open ahead of Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

In a post on X, legendary coach Rick Macci paid tribute to Alcaraz and Djokovic: “The Spanish magician is my favourite to win the US Open. The gold medal loss will add another layer of fibre and grit with even more baked in determination and never say quit.

Nole is the GOAT and always been rock solid. Today that anointment is solid gold. One of the mentally strongest competitors ever in the history of any sport. He is in rare air that only goats breathe and added another gold nugget to his resume and now has raised the gold bar for every tennis player and athlete.”

Alcaraz was eliminated in the semi-finals in New York last year, losing to a great Daniil Medvedev in four sets on the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Carlitos has a clear goal for the second part of the season: “I’m fighting for being No. 1 in the race, that's something that I really want to to do as soon as possible, if I could do it in the future, This one is a really important tournament, really good tournament for me. So I'm going to try to play good tennis, try to play same level as I was playing, and let's see.”

The former world number 1 will try to raise his level even more: “I’ve been playing great tennis, but probably most of the matches I won, I won them without playing great tennis, or I felt like I didn't play really great tennis, So the way that I approach every match, I stay there strong mentally in some situations, I'm really, really happy about that.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion has been training hard in Cincinnati these days and has been seen with bandages on both thighs. “I am also very happy with my tennis and the way I have handled the different situations. I think I’ve made a lot of progress as a player, so I’m very happy.

The season is not over and we must continue to give our best, but I will remember these months for the rest of my life. It was very demanding, Roland Garros and Wimbledon were great tournaments. Maybe I was physically affected by some pain that I had to deal with. That’s probably why I had more days to recover and not do anything, but I’m very happy with my last three tournaments” – the Spaniard stated before his debut against Monfils in Cincinnati.

During the Paris Olympics, Alcaraz partnered with 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and it was an amazing experience. “It was something that I will never forget, for sure. I learned a lot talking to him on court, off the court as well. I think we played a great tennis in doubles, even if we are not used to playing doubles very often.

A little bit disappointing at the end, because we thought that we could do it better, but in general, we were happy. And obviously talking about myself, I reached my dream, my dream came true, playing doubles alongside Rafa” – Alcaraz said.